A. I wanted a unique title. And it had to be one that would stand out and
still fit the story. I made a list of five possible titles and
narrowed
it down to this one and "RED LIGHT DIVAS." I chose not to go with
"Divas" because it was too close to words like "prima donna" and
"bitch". I didn't want my readers to perceive these women that way and
not want to read the story.

Q. How did you come about the ideal for the story?

A. I grew up around women who slept with men for money. I ran errands for
the local hookers, I babysit their kids, and I braided their hair.
Knowing that I was an aspiring author, they often shared their stories
with me. I always knew that one day I would write a book about these
women.

Q. Did you do any research to develop the characters?

A. I rarely do any research at all. This was one of the easiest books to
write because I already knew so much about my subjects. And, I had
already watched a lot of movies and read a lot of books on the subject.

Q. What message would you like readers to receive from Lulu's
situation?

A. When a man waves as many red flags as Larry Holmes did in Lula's face,
she should take a reality check! There are a lot things that are a lot
worse than being alone--especially when that man is obviously leading a
double life. Once you realize the truth, don't run away from your
problems. Had Lula stayed in Mississippi and worked through her
problems she never would have ended up in San Francisco hopping from
bed
to bed with a dozen men a night, and with Clyde Brook's blood on her
hands.

Q. What message would you like readers to receive from Keisha, Clyde's
and Megan's situation?

A. No matter how bad a situation is, if you try hard enough you can find
something positive in it. The more lemons you have, the more
lemonade
you can make.

Q. How did you come about Ester's situation?

A. I read about a lot of desperate women who throw their newborn babies in
the trash. I figured that some of those babies who make it out of those
trash cans alive end up like Ester. I have some really close Latina
friends so I know how closely related women of color are. Of all the
women, Ester was the one I felt the most. She was rough, crude, and
hostile but her heart was in the same place as the rest of the women on
this planet.

Q. How did you come about Rockelle and Rosalee's characters?

A. Rockelle was based on a female in my own family. But unlike Rockelle,
who finally came to her senses, my relative is still acting a fool;
which proves that the truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. I had
a
friend once whose older sister lost all but one of her five children
within a five-year period, similar to what happened to Rosalee
siblings.
Like Rosalee's mother was with Rosalee, my friend's sister would not
let
her surviving child live a normal life. As soon as my friend shared
that
tragic story with me I decided to work it into one of my stories.

Q. Are you looking forward to the release of your next novel
MASQUERADE?

A. The title was changed to "In Sheep's Clothing." My publisher and
editor
decided that there were too many other books already out there with the
same or a similar title. I am very excited about it because identity
theft is a subject in the news a lot lately. Last year more than ten
million
people had their identities stolen so I know a lot of people will be
able to relate to this story.

Q. Are you currently working on another novel?

A. Every single day! The NEXT one, "God Don't Play," is a continuation of
the "God Don't Like Ugly," series. It will be the third book with the
same characters and there will probably be at least one more because
the
two main characters, Annette Goode and her homicidal best friend Rhoda
Nelson, are my most popular characters.